south
side of the house overlooked a low, rolling meadow which ran down to
the Potomac River.

"Have you no proof against the girl?"

"No tangible proof so far, though I am morally certain she is the
cleverest spy of them all."

"Why not arrest her on suspicion?"

"What good would that accomplish? Her family and friends are the most
influential in the District. Without actual proof of her guilt, you
could not hold her forty-eight hours."

Colonel Baker moved restlessly. Such tactics were foreign to his
nature. He believed in arresting first and investigating afterward. But
his department had gone too far in a recent case, and he had been
warned by no less a person than the President himself that his
high-handed methods would no longer be tolerated.

"My idea is to make her convict herself," resumed Lloyd, after a slight
pause.

"And you think your plot is going to work?"

"It has succeeded so far. I found out that Colonel Mitchell was
entertaining Senator and Mrs. Warren, and that Miss Newton was to be of
the party. The colonel's sentiments for her have changed within the
last few days. I shouldn't be surprised if she had snubbed him, and
wounded his vanity. Anyway he was quite willing to enter into a little
scheme I suggested. I put it on purely patriotic motives, mind you,"
Lloyd smiled grimly to himself, "that, as a loyal Union officer, it was
his duty to assist me. So he wrote a bogus despatch, purporting to come
from the adjutant-general, which he was to drop accidentally before
Miss Newton, and then give her an opportunity to pick it up."

"Did she do it?"

"I am positive she did, although I did not actually see her. I saw
Mitchell, who managed it very cleverly, drop the paper, and as they
left their table I walked over to it. The paper had disappeared from
the floor."

"Why didn't you arrest her then?"

"Because I want to find out her method of passing information on to the
rebels. She may have a confederate who would carry out her schemes
while she is in prison, and we would be none the wiser and still unable
to stop the leak. I judged that the moment Miss Newton had time to read
that paper she would instantly try to communicate with the rebels. And
I judged rightly." He paused to look up and down the silent street.

"Go on," whispered Baker impatiently.

"Symonds and I shadowed her home. She stayed in the house just long
enough to change her dress, then came on here by a circuitous route.
S